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Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Soup of the Day... Multiple Bean Soup

Spill the beansMeaning: To divulge a secret, especially to do so inadvertently or maliciously.Origin: The derivation of this expression is sometimes said to be a voting system used in ancient Greece. The story goes that white beans indicated positive votes and black beans negative. Votes had to be unanimous, so if the collector 'spilled the beans' before the vote was complete and a black bean was seen, the vote was halted.

Today's recipe... Remember... Disclaimer: Some folks don't always follow updated USDA canning methods, they may live in another country where the standards are not the same, they may use heirloom methods passed down through the generations, they may choose other canning methods not recommended. Use this recipe at your own discretion, or adapt it to your own method. I am sharing these recipes EXACTLY as they were sent to me and take NO responsibility for them.

Multiple Bean Soup

One whole chicken,

5 quarts of water,

one large onion quartered,

about 1/4 cup of green bell peppers,

and 2 celery stalks.

Boil it for a few minutes, bring down to simmer, stir occasionally for about two hours or so. Take out the chicken and bones and strain. Chicken can be used in this recipe if desired, but can be left for something else.

3 pounds of dry multiple bean soup.

Rinse the beans, put in sauce pot and fill with water (2" over the top), and bring to boil. After 2 minutes, bring it off the heat and let soak for 1 hr. Drain the water and refill to 2" over the top. Bring back to a boil and let it cook for 30 minutes. Add the ham flavor packets if you have them, or you can add your own chunks of ham or the chicken. Stir so it doesn't stick to the bottom. Fill the hot jars, starting with the beans first and leave a 1" head space. Then, added the chicken stock over the top of it, again leaving 1" head space. The amount of beans can be adjusted if you like a thick or soupy bean soup. Adjust the 2 piece caps, and pressure can it at 10 lbs for 1 hr 15 minutes for pints and 1 hr 30 minutes for quarts.